Mother's Day

Mother's Day weekend has come and gone. This year I wanted the family to unplug from the world, and enjoy real family time. So we went camping. As a family we enjoy camping, most of the time. Of course Dad usually goes just because the rest of us enjoy it (his idea of camping is a 3 star instead of a 5 star.) We went with another family who we are good friends with.

We also took our new occasional brother, Toje, with us.


He and Aaron are now best friends. They enjoyed have boy time together. They both need to time to be rough and tumble boys. They ran, wrestled, and make fart jokes, what could be more boy.

We visited Lake Whitney Texas State Park. We enjoy tent camping but this time we stayed in shelters. The adults got the shelters and the kids had tents.....well that was the plan anyway.

The tent we planned on for the boys was missing the poles. So we had to go with our back up plan. It was a small pink tent. Johnny Lovesdogs (10) did not want to sleep in a PINK tent so he went with this parents in their shelter. Well that left Aaron and Toje in the pink tent by themselves. Well they were unsure of sleeping there by themselves so guess who slept with mom and dad?!

Our sites were right on the lake. It was very windy but being that close to the lake made it that much worse. The wind and lack of rain in the area made it necessary for the park to be under a burn ban. That kind of made meal planning difficult. With the use of a propane stove and the Weber grill we managed. Friday night we were allowed a small fire in the fire ring. Dinner worked well for foil packs.


At least we got our roasted peeps in along with the s'mores.




The wind was so strong the first night that the girls who slept in our new tent got very little sleep. They said it was so load with the tent's rain fly flapping around. The following night Ashlyn and Jesse joined the two little boys in the shelter with us.

We were within an hour and a half of Dinosaur Valley State Park. So we spent Saturday afternoon exploring the river where the tracks can can be seen. With my bad knees it was kind of scary to see me walking on the algae covered rocks.



However I was determined to enjoy what the rest of the family did. After crossing the rock bridge and coming back though I opted to stay one the bank, and watch them enjoy themselves. Stephen got in the river with them and before long they were a half mile down the river. I was great to watch him and 7 kids ranging in age from 17 down to 8. He had so much fun right a long with them.

We got back to Lake Whitney so late but still made dinner and ate at the park. The kids roasted hot dogs over the coals in the Weber grill, since the rangers decided that the wind was too high for any type of open fire. We roasted the corn in the grill and cooked the baked potatoes in the dutch oven on the propane stove. We then made chocolate cake in the dutch oven with the coals from the grill. Then the steaks were pan fried on the propane stove.

It was a new experience to camp without the staple of a campfire, but it was fun to try new wasy of cooking outdoors. Our family bonded and enjoyed the fellowship of our friends.

Sweet Girl

My allergies and asthma have been acting up fierce, they have not done this in YEARS. And just when I think I was getting over it they started up again. Ashlyn has taken such wonderful care of me over the past several days. Today as my eyes are swelling and my chest is wheezing our Daddy called and said he would bring home dinner (thank you!) Ashlyn brought me a sandwich just before he he came in.
I told her "Daddy is bringing me a salad, but thank you though"
Ashlyn "no you need to eat the just a peanut butter sandwich "
Me "why"
Ashlyn "your sick"
Me "but I am not throwing up"
Ashlyn " but you might"
Me "no sweetie it is allergies not a stomach thing"
Ashlyn " Well if you throw up don't complain to me"

She loves her mommy.

Summer fun for the RainDrops

The lazy days of summer are upon us. During the summer our daddy's company has what they call summer hours. They go in 30 minutes early every day and then on Friday they will get off at 1:00. So we have some fun planned but trying to do as much as we can on a shoe string budget.

We will continue to have Math, Reading and Spelling school work during the summer. However we are looking for some fun ways to do it. Scrabble is one that we are going to use because you need math for keeping score and spelling for playing. We are looking for more ideas for fun educational games if you have any.

On Fridays when daddy gets off we will meet him at the office with picnic lunches and head to 6 Flags. Over Christmas we got a good on deal on season passes while there for Christmas in the Park on season passes. So this will be good cheap fun for the family. We just have to convince the kids that souvenirs are not an option. But we have been talking about it a lot. We will be doing park days and try to find some inexpensive field trips like farmers markets and Old City Park.

We will also make a trip to Killeen (Fort Hood) for the 4^th of July. My family went last year for the Ft Hood Celebration. It was my sisters, my mom, some of the nieces and nephews. A great time with family, kind of like a family Christmas, since we have so many that are unable to make Christmas. We are also hoping to make a trip to Tulsa OK, to see my cousins.

Mother’s Day Thoughts

    I know I am late with my Mother's Day thoughts, but I am usually late with everything I do.

    I have been thinking lately how blessed I am to have a mother and to be a mother. My life has been richly blessed in both ways. I have a wonderful mother who despite all the heart ache I caused her in my teen years (and I can admit now it was more than any mother should ever have to face) she never ever gave up on me. She watched me make HUGE mistakes, sometimes waiting patiently for me to see they were mistakes and other times fighting the entire way to save me from my own stupidity. She was a praying mother who spent time on her knees daily for me. She never once doubted my divine worth, and taught me that I was loveable even when I was acting my most un-loveable. Mom never told me she hope one day I would have children who acted just like me. (Once I had children she told me she would never wish my mistakes on anyone, no one should have to endure that, thank you for that Mom.) Mom has always thought of herself as merely a mediocre mother. I have an announcement for her and the world. She was the perfect mother for me. I will yell from the highest mountains and from every media outlet I can find. She may not thought she was doing the right things but she was always there for me. She taught me to love, and nurture my own children and to care for my husband in the ways they deserve. Thank you Mom for all that you faced with me for the lessons you taught me and stood back and let me learn on my own. You are still teaching me so much, you life is an example.

 

    My life as a mother has blessed me beyond words. I wanted my children so badly and waited so long for them. I know that I am not the perfect mother but am truly blessed to have the chance to love the special sprites that my Heavenly father has entrusted to me. I want nothing more than to give them the best I can both, in physical things and most importantly in the intangible lessons I teach them. I want them to understand that they are children of Heavenly Father, that they have been sent to this life to learn and to grow so that one day they can return to Him and stand before Him proud of who they have become. As a mother it is my responsibility to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray daily I am up to the task. I feel quite inadequate at time but with the help of my Heavenly Father and the example of my own mother I have the knowledge and the blessings I will need to see them through their lives. My goal is to stand with them before my Heavenly Father and say I may not have been perfect but everything I did was what I felt was right and was done so that we can be an eternal family with no empty seats at the table.

Blog brainstroming ideas

Lessons I learned from Grandma
Lessons I learned from Papaw
Homeschool day
Lessons I learned from Mom
Lessons I learned from Daddy
Things I learned from my children
Reasons I love being a mom
Stephen
How we met
Why I love him
His biggest strength
Ashlyn
Birth story
Why I love her
Strengths and weaknesses
Aaron
Birth story
Why I love him
Strengths and weaknesses
Jessie
adoption story
Why I love her
Strengths and weaknesses
My weakness
My strength
My favorite hobby
My least favorite activity
Deafness
Special needs
Biggest pet peeve
Driving
Kids
Strangers
School day
Favorite dinner
Favorite family activity

The Pearly Gates

“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I pray my that at the end of my life this is how I meet my Heavenly Father. My Grandma was the best example of this. (We even she went into heaven with her hoe so she would be ready.) I want my life to be this kind of example for my children.
That they know that everyone has to give a little to make the world go around

A Perfect Day

Of course there is no such thing as a perfect day, or "Super Mom" for that matter, however we do try. Here is what we strive for our schedule to be.

7:30-- Daddy leaves
8:30-- Mommy and the kids get up.
Mommy and kids get dressed.
Mommy starts a load of laundry and kids eat breakfast.
Everyone picks up living room and kitchen.
Mommy gets her coffee and sits down for bible study.
Kids finish any morning chores.
9:15-- Mommy heads up stairs to the school room to get lessons put out
9:30-- Kids are ready to start Bible Study.
10:00-- Math time
When they get started Mommy changes laundry and puts family items
11:00-- Spelling/ Handwriting
12:00-- Reading
1:00-- Or when reading is done is lunch/ free time
Switch Laundry and put away family items away
1:30-- History/Geography
2:00-- Language Arts
2:30-- Science.
3:00-- Clean up School Room. If we have put things away as we finish this is easy peasy.
3:10-- Afternoon Chores

There are some days that this is all done by 1:00 and some days we are still at it at 4:00. But most days we are done by 2:30. The RainDrops are then sent outside to play. We try to have them stay out and run, play, ride bikes,etc. for at least an hour.

At this point mommy grades papers and prepares anything for tomorrow.
Laundry is once again checked and folded or hung up. Each child has a basket as mommy folds cloths she puts it in that child's basket.

5:45-- Children are to come in and start evening chores, including putting away any laundry that was done that day.
Mommy and dinner helper start dinner.
6:30-- Dinner
7:00-- Mommy and after dinner helper clean the kitchen
Others start baths
Finish evening chores
Daddy helps with any questions from the days school work that mommy had a hard time answering.
8:30-- Bed time for the RainDrops
9:30-- Mommy starts evening routine
10:00-- Bedtime for Mommy
Sometimes Daddy makes it to bed by 10:00 too but most nights he is a night owl.